Contents

	Welcome Note
	Migration to IP Core Network
	Laser Tuned Jacks
	Hardened Connectors vs. Field Splicing

Hardened Connectors vs. Field Splicing

Making cost-sensitive decisions about deploying FTTX architectures requires service providers to not only look at initial installation costs, but to also peer into the future regarding operational and maintenance expenses following service turn-up. Cost modeling allows the deployer to review the financial benefits of their design choices before deployment begins. This article specifically addresses the cost comparisons between using hardened connectors vs. splices in two basic areas of the FTTX network – the distribution plant and drop cable portions.

Cost savings can be achieved on both sides of the service terminal by installing hardened connectors. Although most network architects agree that hardened connectors are optimal for the drop side of the service terminal, many are unaware that the cost on the distribution side is also at cost parity or, in many cases, lower when using connectors in lieu of splicing. The result is an overall lower installed cost for the FTTX network as well as tremendous operational savings over the life of the network.

Large cable and splices

In many typical FTTP architectures, a very large distribution cable containing 48 to 216 individual fibres is deployed from the Fibre Distribution Hub directly to the service terminal. The service terminal could be a splice case, a pedestal, a hand hole, or mounted on a pole. In the case of a spliced network, between one and 12 fibres will be prepared inside the service terminal for connecting to drop cables that service each individual home.

The remainder of the distribution cable will continue to the next service terminal where the next one to 12 fibres will be split off and made available for service. Each time service is ready to turn up at a particular home, a technician will go to the terminal, cut off the appropriate length of drop fibre cable from a large spool, and pull the cable from the terminal to the optical network terminal (ONT) on the side of the home, or vice versa, and splice both ends.

This requires two sets of workers – a construction crew to pull the cable to each location and a splice technician to prepare the cable for splicing. The splice technician will need to visit each individual service termination to prep out the distribution cable, even if splicing is not required at that time. It also requires another trip to the service terminal by a technician each time a drop cable is ready to be spliced in to provide service to a home. It’s easy to see that a typical spliced approach requires more overall manpower costs and numerous trips to the service terminals by a larger number of experienced technicians. All of this adds to the start-up costs for the FTTX build-out.

A more economical approach

Using a hardened connector approach on the distribution side of the service terminal is less costly and requires far fewer splice technician deployments. In this architecture, which incorporates ADC KRONE’s new OmniReach™ Multi-Fibre Service Terminals (MSTs), smaller cables--up to 12-fibres each--are extended from a centralized splice location to each service terminal. This eliminates running very large cables and accessing those cables at numerous locations. Even though the number of splices is about the same, all splices are done at one location, greatly reducing overall splicing costs. Typically, a large portion of splice cost is in the set-up.

Click above diagram to zoom

with a central splice point, the splice technician sets up one time and splices as many as 12 smaller cables onto the distribution cable.
Additionally, there are no splice cases required at the service terminal, making the hand holes or pedestals that store the service terminals much smaller. This is beneficial from both a materials and installation standpoint. Also, many municipalities prefer smaller, less obtrusive pedestals or smaller hand holes that are easily placed and less expensive.

The drop cable portion of the network – between the service terminals and the ONTs – also reaps many advantages through a hardened drop connector approach. The technician can simply use a pre-connectorized drop cable – pre-connectorized at both ends in the factory and cut to specific lengths – to install between the service terminal and the home. These cables can be installed by any technician, possibly the same person connecting the electronics at each home. This greatly reduces the cost of drop cable installations in terms of time and skill level. A technician simply has to clean the connector faces at each end and plug them in.

Savings now and later

The operational cost savings gained from having a connectorized FTTX infrastructure becomes evident in terms of faster service turn-up, ease of maintenance and troubleshooting, the need for fewer splice technicians/equipment, and overall fewer truck rolls. But through extensive cost modeling, ADC KRONE is showing that the cost savings can be achieved at the onset of building the network.

In the hardened drop connector system, troubleshooting can be done at the service terminal simply by unplugging a connector. The spliced approach requires breaking a splice or going directly to the side of the home to investigate problems. There is less need for splicing equipment, particularly in larger installations.

Despite arguments that connectorized approaches result in more optical loss and also require more inventory and slack storage provisions, the data outlined above still reaches the same overall conclusion – the hardened drop connector approach incurs lower overall installed costs for the FTTX network.

Specific cost model based on a phased project (in USA) for a 192 home subdivision, featuring eight homes per block.

For more details on the Next Gen fibre Networks solutions write to Dileep.kumar@adckrone.com . Also visit www.adckrone.com/in

Dileep Kumar
Director Product Management
Carrier & Enterprise Business